Ideas
by Trey Miller
Summary: No fancy name, just ideas, story prompts, scenes, etc. In series, x-overs, OC's, and OOC's; whatever strikes my fancy. 2nd scene- HP- Troll scene. -Author Retired-
1. ZnT Zero Day

Author notes at the bottom. Copyright laws can be found in the normal places, et cetera, et cetera. You'll know when I actually /do/ own something.

Untitled story, code name "Zero Day"  
Written by: Trey Miller

"My name is Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere. Pentagon of the five elements, heed my summoning... and bring forth my familiar!"  
The completion of ritual magic exploded within the circle; a burst of water vapor its component gasses, charged with arcane energy exuded from within, whipping and rolling out by means of expanding winds. A dulled thump of something hitting the ground came from within, and from without, a gasp from the surrounding mages. She, Louise, held her breath in anticipation while mentally chanting, 'please don't fail, please don't fail, please don't fail.'  
"Did she actually do it?"  
"Whatever it is, it's big! Griffin or bugbear big!"  
From within, there was the sound of cloth rustling before the swirl of material waved the standing cloud from the circle. Within, a tall man finished shrugging into a well worn leather longcoat. His face, tilted down, was covered completely by a wide brimmed leather hat. Beside him, on the ground, sat a large pack. He slowly looked up and everyone took two steps back as they caught sight of his face. Mirrored lenses where the eyes should be, and a cloth and metal cowling covered the rest of his face.  
"That was...interesting," he said.  
The field was dead silent.  
Keith O'Brien was truely at a loss. An hour ago, he had been on a year-long walkabout, hiking across Nebraska when a glowing double circle and star appeared beside him. Curiousity getting the best of him, he touched it and wound up in a dark void. Considering there was no dust and no sun, he didn't mind the reprieve; and then he couldn't find the exit-worrisome, but survivable. A moment ago, he heard a young girl speaking French and noticed an electrical feeling building. Grabbing his gear, he had hunkered down just in time to feel the bottom drop from benieth his feet, literally. The landing wasn't as bad as he thought it might be, fortunately. Not knowing the situation, he'd slipped on his rebreather and goggles before the hazes had disappated. He heard more French, this time two young male voices, and grabbed his duster and whipped it around, pulling it on and hiding the less kid-friendly tools.  
And there in front of him stood a crowd of /students/; and a monk. The rebreather's environmental analysis fed onto the goggles heads-up-display signifying an Earth atmosphere.  
Keith pulled down the rebreather and googles and looked to the monk. "Are you the one in charge?" he asked in French.  
The monk blinked in shock and nodded. "Professor Jean Colbert, Square-class fire mage. This is my class."  
The younger man slowly nodded. A Mage, specifically a 'Square-class fire mage'? Perhaps a Pagan monk, then. "Did you bring me here?"  
"Ah, no. That was Louise." Professor Colbert pointed to the pink-haired girl directly in front of Keith.  
'Sure, blame the kid,' Keith thought. The class was beginning to murmur, which meant he had one, maybe two quick questions left before the kids made themselves known. "Exactly why am I here?"  
"You have been called to be Louise's familiar," stated Professor Colbert. Colbert's use of 'convoqué' to denote 'called' brought up Keith's mental dictionary.  
"I was summoned?"  
"Yes."  
One of the children laughed loudly. "Louise summoned a commoner! She truely is the Zero!" The rest of the class laughed, while Louise's face quickly flushed in embarassment.  
She turned to Colbert. "Professor, please, let me try again! This was a mistake!"  
Keith ignored the jeers from the others. "If not me, then what was supposed to be summoned?"  
Louise glared at his and swung an arm around. "A familiar! A creature like one of those that the others summoned! I wasn't supposed to call an utter plebian!"  
Keith's face stayed impassive, even though he was beginning to grow alarmed. The way she and the others spoke, there was a class system here. Class systems meant segregation, segregration meant problems. Great, just like the China-Korea War all over again. Although now that he was paying a bit more attention to his surroundings, unsubtle hints-such as the large dragon behind the blue haired girl, and the salamander beside the Mediterranean girl-that he was not in Nebraska, much less /on/ Earth any more.  
Right, time to see if anything from the three years of acting during college stuck around.  
Keith sighed loudly, "Then it appears I am no longer in my country. What is this lands title?"  
"Tristania, in Halkeginia." Louise said.  
"Worrisome. This is not even my world."  
Professor Colbert seemed taken aback. "What do you mean?"  
Keith levelled a hard stare at Colbert. "I mean, my people know every last rock on my world. There are none named Halkeginia, or Tristania." He shook his head. "The Minister of Defense said it was a bad idea to take a journey as a commoner, but of course I didn't listen. Why should I?"  
"Minister of Defense? Then you are a noble?"  
Keith sketched a mocking bow. "His Lordship, Keith Richards O'Brien, second prince of His Royal Highness, King Jack Daniels O'Brien." Technically not a lie, considering the massive quantities of said whiskey his parents continued to imbibe even now.  
While the students screamed in panic toward Louise, who in turn screamed at them, Keith stepped closer to Professor Colbert and spoke quietly. "Discretely, is there a way for me to speak your language easier? It is not my native tongue, and it is mentally exhausting."  
Professor Colbert squinted in thought before making a few small gestures with the wand in hand-Keith mentally kicked his lack of observation again- and whispering a few words. Keith felt as if a mental switch had been flipped and tried speaking normally. "Can you understand me?"  
"Clearly."  
Keith and Colbert watched the teenagers for a moment more. "While it was not my intention to be drafted into servitude, I freely admit that the reprieve from war will be greatly appreciated." At Colbert's shocked look, Keith continued. "My country and her allies have been at war with a rather nasty bunch for ten years, now. I served a four year stint near the front, before being ordered by my father to take a six month leave before I begin taking on my noble responsibilities."  
He looked back at the students and sighed. "This summoning caught me a week into my furlough."  
Professor Colbert sighed regretfully. "Unfortunately, there is no way to return you, that I know of. I will continue to look and see if I can find something. There is also another matter. The ritual is incomplete until Louise seals the pact."  
"Bloodletting, or...?"  
"Nothing quite so barbaric, I assure you. Simply a kiss."  
Keith groaned softly. "Let's get this out of the way."  
"Louise," Colbert spoke up, quieting the arguement taking place. "You still need to finish the ritual."  
Louise turned and openly gaped, her face slowly glowing redder in embarassment. "You want me to- but he- and I- and!"  
Keith kneeled, still taller than her, but closer to her level. "Louise, truth told, I could use a reprieve. My family and their advisors will keep my country running while I am here. While it may be considered unthinkable in your country, it is not uncommon for a nobleman to swear allegance, even temporary alleigance to another; even to one of lesser rank in certain situations. For now, consider me your sword and shield, your ally and companion."  
After a moment, Louise stepped forward, raising her wand toward him. "Pentagon of the five elements," she whispered, her voice steadily getting stronger and louder, "grant your blessings upon this creature, and bind it as my familiar." She leaned forward and hesitantly kissed him briefly on the lips. She stepped back and looked at him expectantly.  
Keith smiled slightly, letting her know he was alright, before he grimace. A searing pain flashed from his left hand and as he watched, glowing letters formed. Norse Futhark runes, he idly noted as the pain subsided. He turned and showed his hand to Colbert who quickly wrote out the sigils before they disappeared.  
Keith looked at Louise and hummed. "Well, my young mistress. This truely will be interesting..."

Personal info will be located on the bio.

Story is based on the many character introductions into the Zero no Tsukaima/Familiar of Zero world. Admittedly, blame 4chan's /b/ for the original thought that sparked this. They dropped the "Things to know if you travel back in time and can't get back" image meme, which got me thinking about the current manga I'm perusing in what little free time I have.

The idea originally was "Guy with a MacGuyver complex (basically any genius level guy who practices the Boy Scout "Be prepared" motto) is summoned to Halkaginia. His backpack of 'tech and stuff' allows him to provide detail to Colbert with diagrams of the original combustion engine basic chem books, etc. Within six weeks, they have a working motorbike; during the Albion war, he proves the American term "there's no such thing as overkill" by napalming the high-holy-hell out of them, et cetera, et cetera. Might still try to write that...

What I got was this. A communications/liberal arts major in college; a participant in a "near future" China-Korea War, technically called WW3 by the vast majority of people, but you know politics... Goggles are Gen.5 or 7 "Google Goggles." The "less kid-friendly tools," I suppose guns? Could be magitek grenades or a chainsaw-sword for all I know. The whole lordship should be obvious; if not, then read some actual classic novels.

As an aside, I despise author notes...


	2. HPA Troll Scene

Second for the Ideas file. This is a potential scene for my Harry Potter-Adkins story. I really don't like how things are handled; however, I realize I wrote this in the same style as the original Southern Bred. It's been sitting in the cloud, waiting for a bit over a year, now.

HPA- Troll scene

Harry moved with the rest of Gryffindor toward their common room, as his mind ran over all the information from the day. Professor Quirrel was faking it, he knew; his voice held that tembre of a failed actor- nearly true, but not quite. He knew Dumbledore knew also; rather than cast the reviving spell on Quirrel, he left him alone to go deal with both the troll and making certain the protections on the third floor stayed strong. There was one thing he was forgetting, though. He turned to ask Hermione-  
Hermione.  
Oh bugger.  
Harry sidled up to Dean. "Hey, keep the red-haired nuisance busy until y'all get back to the common room, I gotta go get Hermione."  
"You'll owe me for this." Said Dean. He did not look enthusiastic.  
Harry nodded and slipped back before veering off at the first tapestry shortcut. He paused and pulled up a mental map. Five floors between dungeon and the third floor. Quirrel, or whoever was pulling the strings, would be smart enough to loose the troll on the far end, near the stairwell to the charms classroom. Second floor had two sets of bathrooms in the general vicinity of both places. The second was closest to the secondary staircase running up to Ravenclaw tower and the charms room, making it the logical choice for Hermione.  
Harry pulled out a toy-like skateboard and pulsed his magic through the ring. "Enlarge." It expanded back to its full size, which he then dropped, flipped upright, and with a rushing step, launched down the narrow route on it.  
Seven minutes to gather everyone orderly and make their way up to the third floor under Gryffindor tower. Add, say, another five minutes for Quirrel to get the troll into place and run up to the great hall: twelve minutes. On the oft chance that it immediately began making its way up, there was a good chance it was already past the ground floor and maybe even the first, which meant that there was an even greater chance that Hermione was on borrowed time.  
There was the exit. He shifted to his rear foot and ground to a stop, grabbed the board and burst out the hidden door. He jogged over to the stairs and looked and listened. Nothing. He sighed and took the stairs down two at a time, thankful that Murphy wasn't focusing on him at the moment.  
He walked over to the womens bathroom and pushed open the door. Hearing Hermione's sniffles down at the far end, he made his way down and knocked on the door. "Hey, you decent in there?"  
Hermione stopped and was quiet for a moment. "Harry? What are you doing in here? This is the girls loo!"  
"Yes Harry. I'm here because you've been gone for three hours now, and that's more than enough time for you to start thinking and stop reacting, and I would hope this is the girls bathroom; you guys have scented candles near the sinks."  
Hermione giggled softly at the last point. "Give me a moment to get myself together and I'll come out."  
Harry pulled out his pocket watch. "You've got two minutes starting...now."  
A minute forty-five later, Hermione unlatched the door and stepped out. "Sorry if I worried you. It was just that Ron brought up some things I wish had stayed buried about how things were before meeting you and the others."  
Harry nodded. "Trust me, I understand. Had you stuck around another minute, you'd've seen me finding out how hollow that thick skull of his is." He grinned at her questioning look. "Very hollow."  
He extended an arm to her. "Shall we?" She took his arm with a curt nod.  
They exited the bathroom and stopped, staring at a groutesquely large gray-green potbelly a foot away. Their eyes slowly tracked up to the tiny bulbous head attached to the top. It was looking down at them through beady black eyes, not recognizing what was in front of it. It scratched its belly with the hand not holding the tree trunk club.  
Hermione leaned over toward Harry, "Was there, perchance, another reason you came to find me?" She asked him calmly.  
Harry calmly responded. "There may have been something I was attempting to avoid having to bring up until we were safely away from here."  
"Any plans?"  
"Yeah. How good is your levitation spell?" Harry dug into one of his pockets slowly.  
"Good enough to piss Weasley off, remember?"  
"Funny, I thought that was your helpful nature that pissed him off." He pulled out a penny and held it on his open palm. "Levitate this over toward the stairs, please."  
"Why can't you do it? Wingardium Leviosa." Hermione asked as she pulled her wand out and flicked and swished it. The penny lifted and floated to their side.  
Harry pulled out his wand. "Because I'm going to be busy focusing on the other half of the equation. Engorgo. Illusio." The penny grew to the size of a softball and was cloaked in an image of a troll. It bellowed a challenge, jerking the actual troll from its stupor.  
Harry's voice held a distracted timbre. "Hermione, raise the penny to the top of the club and swing it into our troll's head."  
Their troll finally decided that the pale pink little squishy things should be crushed, and lifted his own club. Hermione jerked the penny forward and let it bounce off the trolls head. To her eyes, it was as if the troll image clubbed the living beast, who looked to barely feel it.  
Between the roar and the fake swing, the real troll turned its attention and rage upon the illusion. With a loud yell in response, it charged the fake down the hall, through the stone banister, and into the open stairwell, where it plumeted quickly. Without a word, Harry canceled all spells, caught the coin as it fell, grabbed Hermione's hand, and dashed for the secret passage he had taken not five minutes earlier. As they climbed the stairs two at a time, they heard the shocked exclamations from below as the faculty located the body three floors below.  
Once sequestered away within the tunnel, Harry came to a stop and leaned against the wall to catch his breath. Hermione sat down across from him, breathing hard.  
"You cannot seriously continue to sit and tell the others and I that you are just a normal first year student like us. The illusion spell alone, I know, isn't learned until our fourth year." Hermione took a deep breath and pushed on. "Just who are you, Harry Adkins?"  
Harry shrugged. "I'm just a boy in way over my head." He stood and offered her a hand up. "Give me a day or two to check something and I'll see about letting you and the others in on what I can."  
Hermione accepted the assist and nodded reluctantly.  
"Let's hurry." Harry said. "The professors are likely going to get food brought up to the common rooms."  
As they walked the tunnel, Harry filled Herminone in on what had occurred, including his observations of Quirrel's actions.

And this, kids, is what TVTropes calls a minor Gary Stu. Also, notice the odd way that Hermione acts. Downers, anyone?  
If I wrote professionally at this level, I'd ask to be killed by papercut using the Twilight series to do the deed.


End file.
